The use of headphones for listening to music, hands-free phone calls, interacting with virtual assistants, etc. is widespread. Comfortable wireless headphones and smart-wearable technology accelerate the use of hearable devices for a wide variety of purposes.
As recognized herein, to improve listening fidelity, headphones may employ noise canceling/isolating features which cancel/block ambient sound. As also recognized herein, such noise reduction carries with it the risk of accident as people use the headphones in a variety of situations, such as close to traffic, in which traffic sound is reduced by the headphones. Moreover, people using noise-canceling headphones are more likely to miss other audible cues such as someone calling their name. The same concern applies when a user is using headphones with volume so loud that the user cannot hear ambient sound.